“Given the housing density and the large number of students in our residence halls, our main concern was safety”.
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission launched an investigation after 10 hoverboard-related fires were reported in nine states.
“And that’s something we want to obviously avoid”, said Bill Smith, Arkansas State’s spokesman.
“I am also concerned that there is no safety standard in place for hoverboards”.
American University also said its ban was temporary, but will last “until further notice”.
Hailey Smith, a freshman biology major at UL-Lafayette, said the college bans are overly restrictive.
“We are moving towards discouraging their use until the safety catches up with the technology”, college spokesman John Zeswitz said.
The Department of Public Safety has prohibited the operation, charging and storing of hoverboards on university property due to safety concerns, according to a memo from Chief of Public Safety Edgar Rodriguez.
More than a dozen universities have implemented hoverboard bans, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Federal safety officials previously issued a warning on hoverboards.
“They get on these hoverboards without any protective gear whatsoever”, said Dr. David Wong of Memorial Hermann Sugar Land, an emergency room doctor who also has his own hoverboard. Other schools in the area, including Suffolk University, Brandeis University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst, have banned hoverboards on campus.
Still, several colleges have suggested that they may allow hoverboards in the future.
“When you look at it, you have the city of NY – you can’t ride these things in the city of NY”, says Williamson.
In an email Wednesday evening responding to a request for clarification, a representative from UK Public Relations told WKYT that students would be accountable to the university’s student code of conduct, and employees would be addressed through human resources disciplinary policies.
Students will not be able to bring their hoverboards to campus, beginning Friday, Jan. 8.
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He said the group has not had a chance to react to the new policy, which was emailed to students in December shortly before winter break.
